Laco & Circula Swap Specialties for the ProLab

Collaborations are the bread-and-butter of the British watch industry, be that Fears embracing a touch of haute horology with Garrick or a funky, British watchmaking-focused pocket watch from Christopher Ward and Studio Underd0g. Our German friends? Less so – which is what makes the Laco x Circula ProLab so interesting.

First off, the ProLab isn’t one watch, it’s two – the Laco Field and Circula Pilot. But those names alone give a pretty good indication why the effort has been split. Circula are best-known for rugged watches designed for the trail; Laco’s fliegers are part of military history. So, what if each brand played in the other’s ballpark?

Let’s start with the Laco Field. Based on the Laco PRO model, it takes that classic pilots’ watch layout and gives it a terra firma overhaul. That means a sandy-coloured dial, but with a lumed outer section that glows a soft green in low light. The hands, to contrast, glow blue instead. Fit on a textured sailcloth strap to hammer home that army (rather than air force) vibe, it’s a more down-to-Earth twist on the Laco formula.

Then we have the Circula Pilot which… does the same thing in reverse. It uses the base of the Circula ProTrail, slightly more angular and lozenge-shaped than the Pro, and adds Laco’s black Type B dial, complete with the 12 o’clock arrow where us Brits would pop iron sights. However, aside from the cases and dial colours, the similarities – and what’s actually been swapped between the models – shows why the ProLab ended up as two models.

The Laco Field uses larger, outer hour numerals, 1-12, nice and normal, with an inner ring of minutes closer to the centre. The Circula Pilot does exactly the opposite. The Laco Field has Laco at the top, Circula at the bottom; the Circula Pilot has them the other way around. Despite two different cases, these aren’t separate watches as much as they are two sides of the same coin.

There’s often a discussion over who carries more weight in any collaborative watch. For Ulysse Nardin & Urwerk, it was obviously the former, with the Freak’s case and production numbers defining the watch. It’s incredibly rare to find a partnership as perfectly balanced as this. Maybe more brands should be releasing sets of two.

As for specs, the Laco Field is 40mm of dark, sandblasted stainless steel with a field watch-approved 200m water resistance. The Circula Pilot also measures in at 40mm across, though because of the shape will wear slightly bigger. It’s got 150m water resistance, down just a touch. Both come on sailcloth straps and both are equipped with the workhorse Sellita SW200-1 automatic and its 41-hour power reserve.

Neither watch is exactly pushing the limits of what a collaborative effort like this can be. But as a design experiment, a joint exercise, it opens up new ideas for both brands without treading on any toes. It’s also just a lot of fun, which for two very serious German brands like this, is more than enough. It’s a bonus that the watches themselves also happen to be pretty awesome. And two solid watches for €2,390 (around £2,000) is a tempting buy-one-get-one-free.

More details at Laco and Circula.